Exploring the role of E-learning practices in protecting secondary school education after violent conflict : case study - secondary school education in Libya

Essadi, H

Abstract

Background: It is reported that approximately 2,000 schools in Libya were damaged between 2011 and 2013, and that within the month of November 2016 a further 477 schools were damaged and another 30 schools were destroyed in Tripoli and Benghazi. This poses a substantial threat to Libya’s education system, since experts suggest that countries facing violent conflicts and warlike situations may require a period of 20 to 25 years before they are fully recovered.
E-learning is considered to provide a solution to the problem of how to educate in conflict situations since it dispenses with the need for physical buildings, and can compensate for the lack of teachers, learning materials and transportation facilities, and increasing poverty in the country caused by violent conflict. Additionally, it provides the opportunity through the use of ICT to keep up with the developed world.

Aim: The aim of this study is to provide a framework to elaborate how e-learning systems can address the financial, security and administrative challenges facing secondary school education during the Libya’s post-conflict recovery period.

Methodology: Ontologically, the study is based in relativism to allow for an exploration of the multi-realities of conflict within the secondary education system in Libya. Epistemologically, social constructionism is used to explore the socio-economic, political and cultural meanings attached to the offer of e-learning to secondary school children in Libya. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with major stakeholders of secondary education in Libya; therefore, a qualitative research method and an inductive approach are employed for the study.

Results: The findings reveal inadequate financial resources, damaged infrastructure (school buildings, transport, roads, computer labs, electricity), poor security and safety as key barriers to the re-commencement of secondary school education in Libya. Additionally, they show that many teachers, students, and their families have lost their personal assets, lives, houses, and shifted in attitudes towards public school education through becoming homeless due to the violent conflicts. Furthermore, the number of disengaged students and unemployed teachers has risen as have their general feelings of insecurity. It is concluded that the Libyan government must accumulate financial resources to develop electricity supplies, the internet system, roads, and ICT infrastructure that can support e-learning in secondary education in the southern cities. In this respect, it should engage international donors in order to generate maximum funding for investment in the development of the ICT infrastructure for students in Libya.

Contribution: The study is the first to consider how Libya’s violent conflict has influenced its educational system and how e-learning can represent a transition within that system during the post-conflict situation. It makes a significant contribution to academia and practitioners through its engagement with the major stakeholders of secondary education to ascertain the exact damage to that and the awareness of the need to recover the situation. Additionally, it provides a theoretical framework, developed from four theories, to underpin the introduction of an e-learning system as an alternative method of educating secondary school children in the aftermath of violence and conflict.

Citation

Essadi, H. Exploring the role of E-learning practices in protecting secondary school education after violent conflict : case study - secondary school education in Libya. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Nov 9, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 9, 2021
• Award Date: Oct 1, 2021